REVIEW: Tatsumi (film)

Tatsumi (film) and A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Tatsumi film released 2011

A Drifting Life published 2008 in Japan and 2009 in America

Tatsumi (film):

·         The film took a live action approach in depicting the onsets of both the life of Tatsumi and the graphic novels to which he worked on

·         It is interesting to note where the adult manga genre came from, given that manga had the same connotation of as the “funny papers” of children as opposed to a medium that was supposedly enjoyable by adults as well

·         It is interesting to see Tatsumi as the contemporary of Tezuka, another influential man on the art of manga. It is also interesting to see Tatsumi note Tezuka to be envious of him at the time

·         It is assumed that the film followed the format of the graphic novel, though portions of Tatsumi’s life is abridged in favor of fitting the film to a certain time limit

·         The outlay of Tatsumi’s life alongside the works he made relevant to the events in his life placed publication date out of order yet still maintained the importance of how certain factors in his life contributed to the style of narration and drawing to which he is noted for

·         The graphic tales in black and white have a feel similar to a motion comic in that the line work and use of black on white notably define how one views the work. This is comparable to the colored work to which the film illustrates the autobiographical portions of Tatsumi’s life

·         It is noted the adult themes of Tatsumi’s works that are featured, given that the contemporary style of Japanese manga was that stereotyped to Tezuka’s style: which is somewhat of a Golden Age of manga style

·         The publication industry of Osaka and Tokyo are made known by Tatsumi’s relations to reporters and how he gained money by working long hours in miserable conditions to pay for his family: a stereotyped trend for manga artists that persists to this day save for those who actually succeed in fame and fortune.

·         The transition from the “Occupied” short story to his real life narration was done beautifully, with how he had his protagonist drop a pen into the toilet after being arrested for sketching profanity onto the walls while Tatsumi in the next panel picks up supposedly the same pen while still narrating

·         The themes of Tatsumi’s stories are also of interest: being the ones shown in the film to be on topics of post-World War II Japan, Japan during the contemporary industrial life, Japanese middle age and sexuality, the field of Japanese manga artists and their depictions of sexuality in society, Japanese women post-World War II and his own autobiography

·         It is interesting to note that Tatsumi phrases each story as him discovering a new world rather than creating one, showing he draws inspiration when writing and drawing as opposed to forcing his own imagination onto reality

·         Tatsumi having his characters read their own books in the end of the film was a good touch, having it seem like all is full circle with his depiction of the worlds he creates

Bibliography

Tatsumi. Dir. Eric Khoo. Perf. Tetsuya Bessho and Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Zhao Wei Films, 2011. Film.

Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. A Drifting Life. Quebec, Canada: Drawn and Quarterly, 2009. Print.